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Toll lanes coming soon to 110 freeway; first in LA County

By Hayley FoxPublished: Monday, October 01, 2012, at 10:20AM

Flickr via shalawesome

Toll lanes will be coming soon to the 110 freeway.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Eleven miles of toll lanes on the 110 freeway are slated to open next month, turning the existing carpool lanes into ExpressLanes -- which will give solo drivers the option to pay for what should be a faster ride.

Stretching from Adams Boulevard to the 91 freeway, these pay lanes will cost anywhere from 25 cents a mile to $1.40 a mile, depending on traffic. As more cars enter the ExpressLanes the cost will increase and electronic freeway signs will display the changes in price.

L.A. County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a statement that all commuters will benefit from the toll lanes -- not just those who opt to pay to drive in the additional lane. He said it will "redistribute traffic" across the freeway.

"Everyone wins when freeway traffic flows more smoothly," said Ridley-Thomas.

The average toll will be between $4 and $7, but could exceed $15 for drivers traveling the entire length of the 110 toll lanes, Stephanie Wiggins, the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s executive officer for the Congestion Reduction Initiative Program, told the Los Angeles Times. She said that the ExpressLanes program aims to keep drivers moving at a minimum of 45 mph in the toll lane.

Carpools, buses and other drivers already entitled to use these lanes will be able to continue to do so for free but will still need to get a transponder and FasTrak account, according to Metro.

Metro's blog the Source reports that these new paid fast lanes are part of a one-year, $290 million project funded largely through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and overseen by Metro and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in an attempt to "enhance travel options and ease congestion on two of the region’s busiest freeways."

The toll lanes on the 110 are expected to open on November 10, followed by ExpressLanes on the 10 freeway slated to open early next year. These lanes will stretch for 14 miles between Alameda Street and the 605 Freeway.